Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev and Elitsa Panayotova, Executive Director of Sofia Tech Park, attended Thursday the signing of the contract for the grant for the implementation of the project. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria manages to absorb 85% of the funds under Operational ProgramCompetitiveness thanks to the construction of Sofia Tech Park and the Bulgaria-Serbia gas interconnection, according to Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev.

Dobrev attended Thursday the signing of the contract for the grant for the construction of Sofia Tech Park.

Sofia Tech Park, Bulgaria's first technological park, is to cost EUR 50 M, EUR 42 M of which will be provided under Operational ProgramCompetitiveness and the remaining EUR 7.5 M will be national con-financing.

Sofia Tech Park is to be built on a terrain of 270 decares n the 4th kilometer intersection of the Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd in Sofia where Defense Ministry units are currently stationed.

Elitsa Panayotova, Executive Director of Sofia Tech Park, explained that half of the funding for the project would be invested in construction and modernization of the buildings that would host the tech park and another 30% of the funding would be spent on equipment of the tech park's laboratories.

Delyan Dobrev, as cited by dnevnik.bg, commented that many tech park projects on a global scale had proved unsuccessful.

Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, however, voiced hopes that Sofia Tech Park would be one of the few truly successful tech park projects.

He emphasized that the implementation and development of the project depended on the good dialogue between universities, the state, and the business sector.

Dobrev informed that Sofia Tech Park had been scheduled for completion in 2015.